The weekend after Thanksgiving I suffered a bleeding
duodenal (small intestine next to stomach) ulcer. I knew my stomach had been causing discomfort
intermittently for months. However, I
had no idea I was facing a bleeding ulcer.
My first clue that I was ill was feeling very dizzy and
tired on the Monday after Thanksgiving weekend.
I kept wondering why I was dizzy and so tired. “What is wrong with me?” The next day I knew I was dealing with an
upper GI bleed; the classic “black tarry stool.”
What happened next made my head spin: my doctor saw me Wednesday morning. A blood test showed my Hemoglobin was 8.7
(normal for a female is 12 and above). That day I had an emergency
gastrostomy by a gastroenterologist (GI) doctor. He found the bleeding ulcer which had stopped
bleeding.
The GI doctor told my family I had lost 2-3 units of blood in the last few days. No wonder I was feeling tired and dizzy.
What next? He sent me home to recuperate by taking iron
to build my red blood cells (and hemoglobin which carried oxygen throughout my body) and Prilosec (a proton pump inhibitor) to heal my
ulcer.
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